


Posters

by Squilkey



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 10:26:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16490825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squilkey/pseuds/Squilkey
Summary: Buffy enlists Cyrus' help with hanging posters for her basketball try-outs, but alone. When Andi declines his invitation to help, Cyrus asks the one boy who's always on his mind.





	Posters

**Author's Note:**

> im working to make fics like this as canon compliant as possible aka this fills in the gap between episode 3 and 4 and uses the canon texts from the DisneyNOW app, so it could 100% be canon
> 
> i be chugging to get this out before the new ep whoop whoop this is just kinda a cute thing that ended up being wayyy longer than i intended but i think it's cute? 
> 
> its very 'will-they-wont-they' 
> 
> spoiler alert: youre gonna say JUST GET TOGETHER like 50 times

“Twenty-five posters, okay? Make sure they all go up!” Buffy instructed Cyrus, handing him the stack of flyers as they shot out of the printer. 

He nodded as he counted them in his hands. “Where am I going again?” 

“Do two here and then in every hallway on this side of the school, then walk down toward 6th and do two every block.”

Cyrus frowned. “That leaves one, what should I do with it?”

“You’re smart, Cyrus,” she said, walking past him. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out!” 

“Wait, Buffy!” He called out after her. “What are you doing? Don’t you need some too?” 

“I’m doing the otherwise of the school and around the gym. Walker started making some big posters for me and I’m going to help him finish them,” she explained. “I want the cool, colourful ones right where the tryouts are going to be.”

Cyrus frowned, “Do I have to go alone?”

Buffy shrugged in response. “Maybe ask Andi or Jonah?” 

Cyrus looked at the posters in one hand and then pulled out his phone with the other. Jonah had already gone home for the day, he had guitar practise at four for his impromptu show Bowie had planned... Cyrus wasn’t going to bother him. He tried Andi, despite the fact that she would probably be less than thrilled to help Buffy at the moment.

Unsurprisingly, Andi responded negatively. He responded to that, making sure it wasn’t about Buffy, though he expected that it was. Andi saying she wasn’t in the mood normally meant she was dealing with emotional drama. That, or she was doing crafts. 

He resigned to hanging posters alone and exited the library. As he pushed on the door, his phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket, expecting Andi to admit it was more than just ‘not being in the mood’, and was surprised to see TJ’s name on his phone instead.

_From ‘Scary’ Basketball Guy: what are you doing right now?_

Cyrus looked back at the flyers in his hand and bit his lip. Maybe…He looked to TJ’s text and then switched back over to his chat with Andi. 

_To Andi: No worries. Maybe I’ll ask TJ_

Maybe. He switched back to his other open chat and replied.

_To ‘Scary’ Basketball Guy: Still at school! You?_

Then sent Andi another text to take his mind off waiting for an answer.

_To Andi: You and B are okay though. right?_

_From Andi: We’re not not okay…_

Cyrus frowned.

_To Andi: That doesn’t give me a lot of confidence_

His phone buzzed as his message to Andi reached ‘send’ and he switched over his screen. 

_From ‘Scary’ Basketball Guy: same! wanna do something?_

_To ‘Scary’ Basketball Guy: Yes!_

_But, I cant_

_Hanging posters for Buffy’s tryouts_

_Unless you want to join?_

_Sorry_

_Never mind, it’ll be boring_

 

Cyrus wanted to run into a wall. He couldn’t be cool for a second around TJ, even in a virtual conversation. He looked back to his text with Andi and attempted to calm both of them down.

_To Andi: It’s fine to feel awkward! You guys can get through awkward. But not if you don’t talk about it._

Maybe he was convincing himself, but it was definitely good advice for Andi nonetheless, Cyrus had had plenty of experience in behaving awkwardly around crushes. Wait, did Walker count as a crush? For anyone? He was Buffy’s…something and Andi’s…nothing, really. His phone buzzed and pulled him out of his thoughts.

_From ‘Scary’ Basketball Guy: sounds like doing something. tell me where to meet you?_

Cyrus’ heart leapt a little. 

_To ‘Scary’ Basketball Guy: Library!_

_Well, not the library, outside it_

_But you would have seen me anyway_

He wouldn’t be surprised if TJ decided against coming at this point. He saw two notifications from Andi and looked back over. 

_From Andi: I know. I will. It’s just…_

_Awkward_

Cyrus sighed, there was no fighting that. He heard the sound of a door and looked up to see TJ walked toward him, smiling as their eyes met. His heart sped up. He glanced back down at his phone quickly.

_To Andi: I’m the king of awkward. Let me know if I can help!_

Luckily awkward seems to work out for him most of the time. Perhaps it was one of his loveable quirks? Buffy would certainly say so. 

“Roped into doing Buffy’s work for her?” TJ asked, motioning to the pile of papers in Cyrus’ hand. 

Cyrus shook his head. “She’s with Walker doing artsy stuff and covering the more important parts of the school. I’m doing here and north,” he explained. 

“All alone?” TJ pouted and then grabbed a flyer off the top of Cyrus’ pile. 

“Aren’t you going to help me?” Cyrus replied, panic slightly rising, why was TJ here? 

“Of course I’m going to help you,” he nudged Cyrus shoulder and dropped the paper back down. Cyrus nodded and took a breath. “You seemed eager,” TJ added.

Cyrus frowned, “What do you mean?”

“You like, quadruple texted me,” he laughed. “Twice!” 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. Well, I guess I did. I just click send too soon, I guess. Sorry.”

TJ grinned at him. Cyrus’ heart went off again. “Don’t be. I like when you get all flustered, it’s cute.” Cyrus looked at TJ and TJ’s face fell slightly, realising what he had said. Moments like this had become far more often in the past few weeks, and neither of them knew what to make of it. Cyrus knew how he felt, it had become pretty clear to him recently, but he had no idea where TJ stood. 

TJ cleared his throat and pulled the flyers from Cyrus’ grasp. “Starting at the cafeteria?” He asked. Cyrus nodded and they took off down the hall. 

Luckily, TJ broke the weird silence almost immediately, asking him about his history report TJ had been helping him with. Cyrus was explaining the trouble he was having with his second paragraph when they reached the hallway to the cafeteria. TJ slapped a poster to the wall and then watched it fall to the ground. 

Cyrus rose an eyebrow, “What was that about?” 

“How’d you expect to stick them on?” 

“Oh!” Cyrus whipped his backpack around and dropped it in front of him. He rummaged around for a moment before pulling out a stapler. “Buffy gave me this,” he explained. “Although, I’m not sure how you staple against a wall.” 

TJ grinned again and shook his head, taking the stapler from Cyrus’ hand. He popped it open and held it by the bottom half. “I’m always rooting for you, Underdog,” he chuckled. He picked up the flyer, held it against the wall and slammed the stapler against it, making Cyrus jump. But the poster stuck.

“Are you allowed to do that?” He asked. 

TJ shook his head, “How do you think all these posters are hung up?” 

“Tape?” 

TJ laughed and pushed him down the hallway, toward the math wing. The contact made Cyrus’ stomach flutter, TJ always lingered for a while. It wasn’t like Buffy or Andi pushing him, where they would do it in one move and then let go. TJ would keep contact with Cyrus, his shoulder or his back, he was always lingering. This time, they were more than halfway down the hall when TJ let go.

“We need to do two down here: one by the far side lockers and one up here by the bulletin board?” Cyrus suggested.

TJ nodded, “I’ll do the one here and use the thumb tacks, you run down the hall and test out your wall-stapling skills.” Cyrus did as instructed and found that stapling walls was surprisingly easy. On his way back over, he found TJ peering into one of the empty classroom windows. He frowned.

TJ heard him approaching and turned around. “Think I can get access to my chapter 2 test answer key?” He asked, rattling the handle of the door. 

“TJ,” Cyrus warned, walking closer. 

“I’m just kidding!” He defended. “Mostly…”

“Did you not really get a B on your first test? Please tell me you weren’t lying, I already told my mom!” 

TJ grinned, “You told your mom about my B?” He teased, letting go of the door handle and walking closer to Cyrus. 

Cyrus ducked his head, rubbing his neck. “Well, yeah,” he admitted, blushing slightly. “She knows we’ve been helping you and—”

“—Buffy’s been helping me,” TJ corrected. 

“I’m moral support! Cheerleader, that’s what I do!” How do you tell your crush you were bragging to your mom about him because he’s your _crush_?

“Yeah?” TJ rose his eyebrows, wandering closer. “You gonna join the team next year?”

“You _know_ I can’t do physical exercise, you barely taught me to somersault.” TJ rolled his eyes and smiled at him. They looked at each other for a moment. Two moments. Three. Cyrus’ heart was going fast again. 

“So where to next?” TJ asked, spinning around and heading down the hall. 

Cyrus let out a breath and shook his head, glad TJ was now in front of him. “Upstairs!” Cyrus called. “We need to do the science wing, the 500s, the 600s, and the hallways in-between.” 

TJ groaned in response, “Can’t we just shove the flyers in lockers and be done?” 

“That would only reach, like, fifteen people,” Cyrus commented as he jogged up to meet TJ. “Besides, Buffy will know I didn’t hang them up if she doesn’t see them on the walls.” 

TJ shrugged. “Why doesn’t she just put it in the morning announcements?” 

“Great idea!” Cyrus smiled at him, “We’ll tell her to do that after we put up the rest of the flyers.” TJ gave him a sarcastic smile, but continued hanging with him.

It took them barely ten minutes to do all three sections of the school, and Cyrus still had five posters to hang in the hallways. “Where should they go?” Cyrus asked TJ. “They need to be somewhere where the girls are definitely going to see them.”

“That’s pretty much anywhere in the school, Cyrus,” TJ commented, turning to lean against the wall. 

“I just want to do a good job!”

TJ smiled but didn’t say anything. Cyrus looked up and down the hallway, then turned to TJ.

“I don’t want Buffy to be nervous,” he explained.

“She’s going to be nervous no matter what, Underdog. You putting up flyers in the wrong area—Not that there is a wrong area—isn’t going to make it any less stressful for her. Try-outs come with nerves, it’s part of the deal”

“She’s not going to be nervous, she’s a rock. She’ll be ready when it comes down to it.” Cyrus argued.

“Oh really?” TJ smirked. “You don’t think she’ll be nervous? At all?”

“No way,” Cyrus replied confidently. “I bet she won’t even say the word

“You that confident in her?” He pushed himself off the wall, “You wanna bet for real?” He took a step closer.

“What? Like if she’s not nervous you owe me something?” Cyrus clarified. 

“Yeah, like, I bet you the muffin of your choice that Buffy will say the words ‘I’m nervous’.” He paused for a second before adding,“It doesn’t have to be a muffin though—”

“—No, I like the muffin idea,” Cyrus blurted out. “It’s very us,” he added. 

TJ wiggled his eyebrows. “Very, _us?_ ” 

“You know what I mean,” Cyrus mumbled, going slightly red. 

“Do I?” TJ scoffed, his voice suddenly serious. 

Cyrus frowned at the change of attitude. “Huh?”

“Nothing,” his voice was lighter again. “Let’s get these posters up? Then we can do the ones outside.” He pulled two from Cyrus’ hands and pinned one immediately to the right of them on the announcements board. “Four more to go?”

Cyrus was still worried about the change in tempo from their previous conversation, but the mood had changed back to its regular beat and he didn’t dwell on it for long. It couldn’t have meant much, right? They finished hanging the last poster inside and finally exited the school building.

“Which way are we going, again?” TJ asked, sitting down on one of the outdoor tables. 

“Just up the street until we hit the park,” Cyrus answered. He dropped his backpack next to TJ and pulled out the second round of flyers. “Can we staple them to trees?” Cyrus asked, slightly concerned. 

TJ pouted. “Awe, worried about hurting the environment?” 

“Well, now that you mention it, yes. But I meant can we physically staple these to the trees,” Cyrus said. 

“Yes,” TJ replied, smiling. “But I’ll also take your other concerns into account and go for stapling on the wooden posts you see all down the street.” 

Cyrus sighed. “I’m not sure what I would have done without you.”

TJ grinned wide at him and jumped off the table. “C’mon, Underdog. Only ten more posters to go.” TJ walked off in front of him and Cyrus let himself drag behind, watching the boy as he jumped down the stairs.

They walked half a block and TJ stopped and stapled one to the wooden telephone post. “Should I do the other side of the street?” Cyrus offered. 

“Nah, just do one a block, we’ll wanna do a couple over at the park, since they got a court there,” TJ said. 

“But Buffy told me two every block,” Cyrus replied. “I don’t want to disobey,” he admitted. 

“I am the captain of the _other_ basketball team at Jefferson, you know. Have some faith.” 

“I would,” Cyrus sighed. “But now that you’re actively trying to bet against me,” he snatched a flyer from TJ, “I think I want to stick with Buffy’s plan.” TJ grabbed at the paper, but Cyrus held it behind his back. 

“You know she would be more nervous if there were a ton of people there, right?” He retorted. “Trust me, I’ve hung posters plenty of times.” He attempted to snake behind Cyrus to grab the poster, but ended up getting blocked by Cyrus’ other arm. Cyrus stuck his tongue out.

“So you won’t listen to me?” TJ asked. He wasn’t seriously annoyed, Cyrus could tell, but it was frustrating all the same. He couldn’t help but want to do whatever TJ asked. 

Cyrus looked across the street, then back at TJ. “Don’t do this to me! I can’t choose between you two! You’re going to convince me and Buffy’s going to get mad at me.” 

“You can’t choose between your best friend and me? Some random, scary basketball guy?” TJ questioned, stepping closer. 

“Not-So-Scary,” Cyrus quietly corrected. “And it’s different, you,” he stopped himself. He was going to tell TJ that he knew it was different, but he didn’t want to end up in another ‘do I?’ situation. In TJ’s mind, why would it be different? “You and I got closer,” he settled with. 

“Yeah we did,” TJ said softly. They were right next to each other again, and Cyrus had no idea how. They always just seemed to end up gravitating towards each other, to the point where neither of them had any personal space. Cyrus looked up into TJ’s eyes and let out a shaky breath. Reality snapped back to him and he tried to push the sound of his heart beating out of his ears.

“But I’m on a mission for Buffy,” he announced. TJ almost seemed shocked by the break in silence, but he nodded in agreement.

“Okay,” he said. 

“Okay,” he said confidently. He looked across the street. “So I’m going to put one over on that post.”

“If you think that’s best,” TJ commented. 

Cyrus frowned again, “TJ,” he whined. 

“I’m just messing with you, Underdog. Go, run across the street.”

Cyrus smiled at him and did as he was told. When he made it back over, TJ rose an eyebrow at him.

“You really would do anything I asked if I convinced you, huh.”

“Probably,” Cyrus admitted. “So please don’t take advantage, I’m fragile.”

TJ chuckled, “I’d never take advantage of you, Underdog.” Cyrus’ stomach flipped.

They did the next two blocks and then ended up at the park, four more posters to go. They approached the swings and TJ gave his flyers to Cyrus, jumping up and grabbing the bar above. He swung his body below, avoiding the actual swings.

“What are you doing?” Cyrus asked, not bothering to hide his smile.

“Messing around,” TJ replied simply, launching himself forward and landing on his feet, graceful as always. “You wanna put a few over by the court?” He asked, pointing past the swings. “We can also do one over by the tables, I see a lot of girls hanging out here after school.”

“Sound good,” Cyrus replied. They walked toward the tables and TJ turned to staple a flyer onto the post nearby as Cyrus took a seat at one of the tables. TJ knew girls hung out here? Did he come here all the time, hang out with them as well? “You hang out here after school?” He questioned out loud, picking at some of the chipped paint on the bench.

“At the basketball courts, yeah,” TJ replied. He turned from the post, “Why?” 

“Oh, right,” Cyrus replied, some form of relief in his voice. “The basketball courts, not _here_ here.”

TJ stepped toward him. “Why?” He asked again. Cyrus shrugged, keeping his eyes focused on chipping away at the bench. “You jealous I come to the park without you?” He teased.

“Not jealous,” Cyrus argued, “Just curious.” 

“Hm,” TJ mused. “Not what it sounded like when you asked.” Cyrus’ cheeks went slightly red. “Don’t worry, I never swing without you.” TJ was enjoying this conversation all too much. 

“You can swing without me,” Cyrus mumbled. “If you want to.”

“I don’t want to,” TJ said simply. Cyrus finally looked up at him and smiled, he wanted to say something. Maybe he should— “Should we finish putting up the posters?” TJ asked, breaking his thoughts. “We can just do the rest at the courts.” 

Cyrus shook his head, “We should do one on the other side, by the west entrance.” 

“Good thinking, Underdog.” He held out his hand and Cyrus took it, letting himself get pulled up to his feet. They stood facing each other for a few moments, TJ’s hand still around Cyrus’ wrist. His heart was beating fast. Another moment, what if he said something? Maybe…

TJ cleared his throat and let go. “Basketball courts?” Cyrus nodded slowly and TJ led the way. His head was spinning, thoughts unable to slow down. 

TJ hung both posters while Cyrus stood and watched him. “You wanna help at all?” TJ called from the other side of the court. 

“I think the area where the basketballs go is more your territory,” Cyrus called back. He saw TJ shake his head and could tell he was chuckling. He watched him hang up the second poster and then jog back over to where Cyrus was standing. 

“One more to go?” TJ asked, stopping right in front of Cyrus. 

“Yup, we can walk to the west entrance and then head back from there,” he replied.

TJ frowned. “Head back where?” 

“The school?” Cyrus was slightly confused.

“I thought we were going to hang out,” TJ admitted, backing away from Cyrus slightly.

“We are hanging out.”

“Like, actually hang out, Cyrus. After all this was done,” he sounded upset. Cyrus wasn’t sure where he went wrong, was he being boring? Had he not been clear that hanging posters was going to take up a lot of his time? TJ upset was something Cyrus never knew how to deal with. Mostly because, well, he never knew _why_ he was upset.

“I told my mom took pick me up at four,” he explained, checking the time on his phone. “I could always tell her to come later though?”

TJ shrugged, “It’s fine, I can just go home.” Cyrus knew he wasn’t supposed to accept that, his heartwas beating faster than normal.

“I’m staying,” he said, opening up his conversation with his mom on his phone. “I want to hang out.” Before TJ could say anything more, Cyrus showed him his text to his mom.

_Going to stay back a little longer and hang with TJ, pick me up later?_

“Well if you like me _that_ much,” TJ smiled. 

He wanted to say ‘yes’, ‘yes I do like you that much’, ‘I like you _more_ than that much’, but he stayed silent. There would be a day when he was ready, it just wasn’t today, so he rolled his eyes and gave him a smile. 

**Author's Note:**

> not yet,, poor babies they'll figure it out soon


End file.
